Cacoethes – kakəˈwēT͟Hēz
An urge to do something inadvisable; the word is recorded from the mid 16th century, and comes via Latin from Greek kakoēthes, from kakos ‘bad’ + ēthos ‘disposition’.
cacoethes scribendi – an incurable passion for writing; the phrase is originally a quotation from the Roman satirist Juvenal (ad c. 60–c. 130).
I am by nature a very cautious person and very averse to risk taking. I would avoid any situation that has a remote chance of causing an injury, always subscribing to prevention is the best cure. I am the kind that believes if we were meant to ski, we would have been born with skis. All that (kinda, sorta) went out of window recently, perhaps buoyed by recent success in improving my health, strength and endurance (please see #66).
Recently I went on a three-week trip to Vietnam. I spent the first 10 days on a photography workshop with 17 wonderful people, who are kind, intelligent and good natured, and excellent photographers to boot, and the last 8 days playing tourist with missus. Vorfreude was the one word that described my state of mind as I prepared for the trip. But my whole stay turned out to be cacoethes since I have spent the three weeks skirting and avoiding two typhoons and one tropical storm that hit Vietnam in that time – Ragasa, Matmo and Bualoi respectively.
At any other time previously, I would have avoided a trip like this like a proverbial plague, knowing Ragasa is arriving around the same time I was arriving (Ragasa – September 18-24, category 3) and I arrived on September 24th. The rains were coming down, sometimes hard, continually, thanks to Bualoi, a mere tropical storm that followed. During the third one, (Matmo – October 1-4, category 2), Jaya arrived in Hanoi on October 4th.
One thing that I refrained in the past from doing is ask some stranger if I can take their photo. I was timid, apprehensive and too mindful of their space. Anyway, my trip started with glorious sunny days, or I should say, hot and humid days with a very high UV index. I arrived in Hanoi couple of days earlier, so that I can acclimatize to the weather and time difference. The day I arrived; the tour guide took me on a walking tour. On this trip it was a different story.
As we are walking around the Old Quarters of Hanoi, I noticed quite a few youngsters would walk around all dressed up, taking their selfies or have their friends take their pictures. In addition, I noticed at various popular gathering points, there are photographers that you can engage for next 15 minutes or so, pose for them and the photos will be sent to you. With that observation under my hat, I ventured to ask total strangers if I can take their photos. There was always a confusion when I point to camera. They may have been confused; Is he asking to take our photo or does he want his photo taken. Fortunately, my tour guide came to my rescue and would translate my intent. Viola! I have my street photos with these beautiful young ladies captured. As I was walking up a street, I see this couple sitting and sipping their beverages and I asked if I could take their photo. Next thing, they stand up and pose. When I showed them the result, they loved it so much, that the gent immediately gave me his email address and requested I sent him the full res. image. The couple are from Singapore.
The one below is at Train Street, the two young ladies were taking pictures, and I asked if I could take their pictures. One of them readily posed for me and the other one was shy. I took a candid, and she liked it very much and agreed to model for me.
The shy one is below.
There is one more example below. On this street, there are a bevy of beautiful girls all dressed up and having their picture taken by professional photographers.
I did what I always told myself not to do because it was inadvisable. Those are the examples of overcoming mental hangup or my emotional inadvisable challenges. In the twenty days I spent in Vietnam, I fell on my behind three times and dropped my camera once from a 6 feet height. I probably fell three times in my entire life till this trip and dropping my camera, I have never, ever done it. On one occasion, we are on our way to Sapa in northwest Vietnam and saw this rice field where they are harvesting rice. We stopped our vans, and my fellow photographers make a beeline to where the farmers are harvesting.
I stayed on the roadside looking at the field, and my fellow photographers heading, and I am vacillating between should I go or should I not go. It was a bit of a walk from the road to get close to the workers as you can see in the photo. They are slightly above the middle line of the photo and you see a sliver of an image.
What I did realize or know is that the path you see in the above photo is about two feet or so above the ground on either side of the path. Of course, I decided to go and started walking. At one point, I missed my footing and boom!!! Just like that I landed on my butt, with my camera on my chest, and mud on my t-shirt. Our translator Terry realized I am a bumbling novice and need help.
From that point on, Terry would walk in front of me, with strict instructions for me to step only where he stepped before, patiently waiting for me to take pictures as I randomly stop to do so.
Even the fellow photographers offered me their moral support by being with me and trying to not make me feel embarrassed. With a bruised ego and a tad sore butt, I trudged along.
I may have lost the battle, but I did win the war. Here is an example of how close I came to my target destination with muddied clothes and a momentary source of entertainment to my fellow travelers.
If you can eye-ball estimate between the above image and the one 5 images above, I have traveled quite a distance while doing what I considered inadvisable.
My fear of water (yes, irrational it is) is a constant source of entertainment for friends like these, who needs enemies. Guess what!!! I did it again. I went into a flooded area with water at times up to my knees to take photos. I never did that before. Too risky!
I was getting ready to go “deep” into the water here. I was another 10 feet beyond the shaded area to get the shots.
I walked across the “body” of water shown in the image below to reach the other end to take some photos.
Is that “inadvisable” risk worth it? You be the judge.
This trip has been a different journey unlike all my previous trips. It has been one of self-discovery (never too late), one of overcoming my fear, albeit a perceived one, I am sure my friends would tell me, but real to me and one full of acts of desperation, perhaps driven by the concern that time is running out. If not now, then when?